Painkillers
by Decoded3
Summary: Tony's on painkillers AGAIN and his team guess it's time to finally get some dirt on their partner. What they get is much more than dirt.
1. Revelation

DiNozzo was on painkillers- again.  
"How many times can you possibly break your nose, Tony?" Ziva asked jokingly and McGee snickered. Obliviously, Tony was looking around the NCIS bullpen like he'd never seen the place before. His mouth was set in an 'o' shape that made Ziva smile. He was spinning in his "amazizing" spinning chair as he'd called it and he was obviously getting dizzier by the second. This time McGee spoke up, him and Ziva walking up to his desk to poke some fun at him. After all a drugged up DiNozzo was always a good time in anyone's book.

"How many pills are you _on_ right now anyway?" He asked quizzically. Tony answered him by giving him a huge loopy grin the spread to both his ears and showed his 1000 watt smile. "Oh HEY McGoo, McGiggles, Mc...Mc- Uh..." He was too preoccupied with staring at his thumb to continue. "A lot apparently, McGee." Ziva said, trying to hold back her laughter. Watching Tony when he was like this was like watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Americans did some pretty stupid things Ziva had decided when watching the most recent episode the night before.

"Can't handle a little pain Tony?" She mocked lightly. To her surprise, the Italian began laughing almost hysterically before answering, "Oh _puh-leeeeaase!"_ He squeaked drunkenly, " I've gotten worse from my father."

Ziva and McGee froze. Tony was still spinning as fast as he could without throwing up and probably completely oblivious to what he'd just told them. They just looked at each other and back at their co-worker helplessly, wondering what to do and if Tony would remember this conversation later. "WHOO! This chair is my newerer best friend, guys! You can't compeeet with thiiis!" He sang, pronouncing 'newerer' like he had trouble forming the word before grabbing his tongue and attempting to reprimand it. Nope. He wouldn't remember a thing. Ziva and McGee shared another look before checking to see if anyone – especially Gibbs- was around. Then they started the interrogation.

"Hey Tony!" McGee said in a cheerful voice. _Finally some dirt!_ "Having a rich dad musta been pretty awesome huh?"  
Tony stopped spinning and looked at his hands in awe. "Not at all McDonald!" He took a moment to laughed at his own newly found nickname for his 'Probie'. His intelligence never ceased to astound him as he began to spin again. Poor Tim rubbed a hand over his face trying not to let his frustration show. "Well, why not?" Of course his life had to be better than most he was filthy rich! Dammit he was loaded even as a kid, it was unfair, but it had to be cool, Tim figured.  
"Because moneeey is the root of all eviiiil, McDonald!" Tony said, wide-eyed. He giggled once more at the new pet name and Tim sighed.

"What about your parents Tony?" Ziva cut in and a dark look crossed Tony's cheerful face. His spinning slowed down, but didn't stop as he replied, "Mom killed herself and father was- _IS –_ a royal asshole." Tony said softly. He looked almost confused...lost even.

McGee and Ziva balked. Suicide? All the things they used to say when he complained about his family were thrown in their faces simultaneously and it felt pretty damn shitty. They had never known that about Tony's life. What else had their partner been hiding from them?"How did she commit suicide Tony?" Ziva asked gently, her voice catching in her throat. Neither of his friends had thought the conversation would get this personal.

"Oh!" Tony shouted in surprise. His computer had made a 'bloop' noise which apparently required his immediate attention...Or what was left of it."Tony!" They both snapped in exasperation. Their confused partner tore his gaze away from his computer and looked at the two of them curiously. "You guys look funny!Oh man, there's two McGoo's!" He said noticing their expression and giggling slightly, pointing. "How did your mom commit suicide?" Ziva repeated more forcefully.  
Casually, Tony said, " Knowing me," He pointed to himself theatrically, accidentally poking himself in the forehead, "it was _my _fault she wanted to die so badly."

Again Ziva and McGee were struck speechless. If Tony had smacked them both across the face (which by now the pair thought they probably deserved) it would elicit the same reaction. They had NEVER seen Tony- happy-go-lucky Tony of all people- act like this and it scared them.  
Tony continued, completely blind to their reaction and he even appeared to be having fun, not noticing the words exiting his mouth. "and she did it during movie night too...that was our only time together away from fatherer. Slit her throat..." He seemed to sadden a little. Almost like a little kid who had just realized he'd lost something important to him and his co-workers felt awful. "I was there – Pret-tey freaky stuff, but I bet it was better than my idea."

"You were there when...Wait!Your idea?" They shouted in unison. They were both thinking the same thing. _TONY? Suicide? He would never...he could never...No,no,no,no,no,no,no! Tony?_

"Yeeep!" Tony said happily. "Always loved heights! So beautiful up there, my favorite view! But then I joined NCIS." He finished. He was spinning full force now, head rolling around as he tried to focus on his mighty mouse stapler unsuccessfully.

Ziva and McGee were shocked...He really cared about his job that much? He really cared about _them_ that much? Damn. They never would have guessed that Tony could think like that and be so...so sentimental. To think that Tony- _their _Tony- had thought about suicide made them reconsider their feelings for their partner. Sure he could be rude and obnoxious and even invasive, but he was part of their family right? McGee realized that although Tony was annoying and sometimes rude, the nicknames he gave him were meant to represent affection. Of course deep down he always knew that. Tony was like the older brother he'd never had...For Ziva it finally clicked that the playboy persona wasn't as perfect as it seemed. He was deeper than he looked and apparently, there was much more to her teammate than it seemed. Don't judge a book by its...it's cover right? That was Tony. If she'd said that outloud he'd probably have thrown a fit and asked her how she'd possibly voiced an American idiom correctly. She smiled.

Just then Gibbs arrived, walking through the opening elevator doors. "DING!" Tony mimicked excitedly. Then he noticed his boss approaching and shouted "BOSSMAAAN!" He jumped up out of his self-proclaimed, amusement park ride and word vomit started pouring out of his mouth. "Oops! Hey Boss! When did you take the caterpillar off your lip?" He asked in confusion. McGee and Ziva were by his side now. They rushed to support him when his dizziness threatened to knock him over.

"About a year ago DiNozzo. Painkillers?" Of course Gibbs wouldn't miss a beat. The last two sane members of his team nodded and helped DiNozzo back into his chair so he and his 'best friend' could be reunited. "It'd be funny if it weren't so sad." Gibbs said, shaking his head.  
His phone chose then to ring and he struggled to open it and press the 'talk' button. "Yeah, Gibbs." He opened gruffly. After a short silence except for Tony (he attempted to imitate the phone's ringing noises) Gibbs hung up and looked at his team. "Ziva. McGee. Grab your gear, we got a case. DiNozzo!" He barked, facing the doped up man. His face was mixture of irritation and humor, but to anyone who didn't know Gibbs as well as his team they never would have noticed the concealed amusement in his eyes.

Tony's head shot up from its previous position observing his tie which he'd managed to tie in a knot. "Get down to Ducky." Transfixed by his tie Tony nodded enthusiastically and stood up. He narrowly avoided several collisions with others who walked his way. His tie was just that entertaining apparently. After the elevator doors had closed Gibbs sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What am I ever gonna do with that man?" He asked no one in particular.

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Not sure whether to continue it or not...I like stories that leave the ending for the imagination, but I wanna know what you guys think and if I'm any good at this crap (: Thanks! Rate and Review please~ and I hope all you flamers will feel accomplished, but I'm not reading your shit...Thank you again and have a nice day!


	2. Confusion

The next morning Anthony DiNozzo waltzed in, all smiles and no drugs.

"Hey guys!" He said happily. Sending them a wave. Tim looked at him quickly before quickly looking away. _My beauty burns the Probie's eyes,_ Tony thought in a sort of hung-over fashion. Whatever, he was coherent enough for work and he could definitely fire a gun. Ziva didn't even raise her head, but mumbled something that sounded like, "Mormig Stony." The Probie chose to ignore him completely.

Tony blinked. That was strange of them both. No insults? No snide remarks about his late arrival, even from Gibbs? Who died? And more importantly- how on earth was he supposed to complete his day! And so was Tony's morning. His boredom took over. So bored was he, that the option of blowing nose bubbles was beginning to look attractive...For the remainder of said work day he juggled himself between Abby's lab, the bullpen, Ducky and back again! Tony chatted with Palmer for a while, but other than being ordered or given information, he was pretty widely avoided.

The exiled man tried to pass the time helping Abby, but he'd screwed that up too. She'd asked him to hold a blood sample above a flame to see if there was a reaction. All he heard from Abs was '_blah blah, blibbedly snugtorgolous bluh_'. Stupid tech speak! Standing there with a blank look worked for him. Of course his hand-eye coordination decided to abandon him and the blood sample fell. He reached for it, but the sample committed suicide, jumping from his fingertips into the flames. In the gentlest way Abby told him he 'sucked' as a forensic scientist. He couldn't help but agree, but both of them found it hilarious.

When Tony was with his team the feeling of being ignored was getting worse! He didn't know what he'd done this time. He always pissed somebody of f. Couldn't break a daily routine, right? He would know what to grovel about and get on with his sorry life. But this time his brain was at a loss. The day was almost over and he was _done _with their little game.

The Italian man jumped up and smacked the palms of his hands on his desk. That got their collective attention. Timothy almost parted company with his desk chair. He grabbed the armrests so he didn't fall from such a treacherous height onto the floor. A wide-eyed group of three were all looking at Tony questioningly. _Guiltily, _Tony's mind whispered, but he shoved the thought aside. They had nothing to be sorry for.

"Why are you all avoiding me like the damn plague?"

Silence as all three of them deadpanned. Gibbs nearly performed a face plant at the words. Tony didn't get it for a couple more seconds and blinked. "Uh, yeah, poor choice of words." He stated, rubbing the back of his neck "None of you have talked to me at all today and normally I'd wait a couple days to show that I even care, but hell this shoulder is the coldest I've ever landed on! And believe me, I've shivered on many a shoulder-"

"TONY!" _Clomp, clomp, clomp, clomp..._ Tony groaned, but turned to see an eccentric lab rat with cute black pigtails flying toward him at mach 5. He'd played football for a while before he screwed up his knee, but he'd never, NEVER had someone tackle him with as much ferocity as Abby usually did. Tony loved Abby, but he hated contact with a burning passion. Hugs and kisses? Yeah, not too big on them which is why the girlfriend thing was just act most times. He cast one last glare at them all before he was nearly taken out by Abby. As usual, Tony didn't hug her back, but she didn't seem to mind so much. "You have someone to see you..." She whispered in his ear.

He was surprised. Not a happy tone, that. He blinked and looked over the Goth's shoulder. A man in his late 60's was walking toward the bullpen. Slowly and deliberately. And staring right through Tony with his hard eyes. Ziva, Tim and Gibbs all watched as Tony visibly deflated like a sad balloon. Confused Gibbs stood up and the other members of the team followed suit. They watched the man come closer and couldn't help, but be intimidated by the cruelty in the older guys face. Looking back and forth from Tony and the man they wondered where the hell the connection was between Tony and Mr. Chuckles. Why did Tony even know a man like this...? They all froze.

Could he be...

"Father?" Tony croaked in shock. Abby was still hugging him for emotional support. The hard looking older man ignored him and stopped in front of the younger man's messy desk. The way he looked at his son suggested exactly what he thought of him. Filth. Lower than he. There was really only one word that could possibly describe the Anthony DiNozzo Senior's face. It passed through the team's heads like a tidal wave. Disgust.

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Is really, really , really, really, really hoping she didn't kill it...Thanks for the reviews guys! Keep em coming please? I love to hear them (;


	3. Explosion

The first to break the silence was Mr. Chuckles.

He looked at Tony like he was muck on the bottoms of his shoes. Shoes that McGee would later figure out cost the man over $700. That was disgusting. "Anthony." Again he said Tony's name like the 'H' was non-existent. He had a heavy Italian accent which, if possible, made him seem even more of a pompous rich man. Gibbs could almost picture him with a swastika sewn on his sleeve.

Tim and Ziva shared an evil look. This man was responsible for most of the pain in Tony's life. A monster who still haunted their teammate's memories. They couldn't wait to see DiNozzo Senior's ass get handed to him. _Send the janitor home because the floors about to be wiped, _McGee thought. Tony dearest definitely wouldn't orders from anyone, but Gibbs. Including Daddy dearest. Said agent opened his mouth and the other two agent's grins grew even wider. "Yes, father, sir." Tony said in a practiced voice like he thought any other title wouldn't suffice. Tony was refusing to look at his father and trying to remove Abby from his arm as gently as possible.

Tim almost met the desk with his face and Ziva's mouth dropped open a little as she stared at her partner and his recently grown second head. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Gibbs tense.

"I will speak to you in private." He said in a hard, demanding tone that made Ziva feel a smidge intimidated. So far the older man hadn't wasted his time glancing at the other room's occupants. They, on the other hand, all looked at him like they wanted to throw him in a wood chipper. A really, really big wood chipper. Personally, Tony hoped they would stay out of his father's way. Gibbs growled quietly. _How dare this man come into his workstation and speak to HIS agent like this? Tony of all people. The man was either mentally deficient or making a death wish._ Gibbs knew his other agents wouldn't move unless signaled, but Gibbs wasn't so sure he could hold back. Abby squeezed Tony's arm tighter. She'd known about Tony's father since the beginning. Tony told her everything, but this...The man was cold, ruthless and cruel. She couldn't see any kindness in his eyes at all- he was like a rock. She smiled a little when she heard Gibbs speak up. Just in time, as usual.

"Actually Mr. DiNozzo, my team and I are in the middle of a case. I'm sure you can speak with my agent some other time." The verbal attack was sudden. Senior turned and blinked. He obviously wasn't used to opposition. _Well he better get used to it_, Tim thought, _before Gibbs decides to open a jar of whoop-ass_. Too much paperwork and blood on the carpet...

"I will talk to _my son_, now. I've only come for what is rightfully mine." Senior said, calmly looking at his son and his Velcro attachment goth. His eyes flashed. "And you _will_ give them to me." Tony's face only held a deep agony that he never showed. His team had never seen him like this. Without looking at his father directly Tony said, "Don't you have another divorce lawyer or some sort of poisonous reptile to harass?" It was weak, but it was there. Defiance. Gibbs's hand flew to his gun, he'd seen the look of pure malice pass over Senior's features and reacted. The cold, indifferent expression never appeared to change, it was so fast, but Gibbs saw it. "You ignorant little piece of-"

Gibbs's pride meter erupted into flame at the sound of 3 safety's going off at once, interrupting Anthony DiNozzo Senior. His palm was frozen mid-slap. Tony however had unintentionally flinched, pushing Abby behind him. Despite three guns and an eerie silence, Senior spat on his son's desk. He ground out, "Just as useless as ever you little pussy." It was a statement. Almost like the man had come to a conclusion and it's effect on Tony was visible. "Sir, I would appreciate it if you left the building._ Now_." Every word was a threat. Gibbs practically chewed the words out of his mouth. Damn, he wanted to shoot the bastard...

Senior scowled and Gibbs nodded to Tim. Shoving his gun in his holster grudgingly, Tim walked over to Tony's father. Tony almost sagged with relief...At least McPacifist wouldn't introduce his father to Abby's shooting range as a parting gift. Obviously Gibbs knew this, that was why the job was given to Tim. It was the only way to get the bastard away from him without ending up with a bullet in him. Ziva looked at Tim sympathetically. But the poor probationary agent was sizzling inside. Tony was like his big brother!

As they were about to walk around Ziva's cubicle, DiNozzo Senior shouted, "You're just as much of a failure as you always were! You were never meant to be in a family you son of a-"

"_BITCH!_"

Tim's fist collided with Senior's face. Hard. He may have looked like a rock, but he crumbled pretty fast. Blood sailed out of the older man's mouth along with a couple or incisors. Which were probably glad to leave, Abby snickered. A sickening '_crunch' _resounded through the bullpen and DiNozzo Senior hit the floor so hard he slid a couple feet and bumped into the wall. There was a stunned silence. McGee stood there heaving. Fist still clenched. Wait-McGee?

Before Tim could fly at the defeated old man Gibbs grabbed him under the arms and held him back. In return he received a rather bruised couple of ribs, a pounding shin and a quickly swelling lower lip. Tim almost twisted free twice. "McGee!-OOF!" He'd been elbowed in the jaw again. He almost escaped again and Gibbs was forced to look to Ziva for help. She raced around her desk and hoisted Tony's father up onto her shoulder. As quickly as possible she tried to get the man in the elevator, but thought about _'accidentally'_ dropping him in front of a royally pissed off Timothy McGee.

Before the elevator doors closed in front of her Ziva looked out and saw Tony about to have a heart attack. A couple things crashed to the floor. While Gibbs attempted to restrain McGee the probationary agent shouted something that sounded oddly like, "Screw the paperwork!"


	4. Intrusion

**It's finally FINALLY HERE! I know how patient you guys were~ Thank you sooo muches! My summer is finally not as jam packed as before. xD This will be the second to last chapter. The next chapter is it. (; Hope you guys like it! **

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Everything had settled down in the bullpen. The gawking onlookers were shocked at McGee's display of anger. They looked like he'd personally K.O.'d their grandmothers, but they had all gone back to work. Courtesy of the Gibbs's stare. Now team Gibbs was in Abby's lab, Tony had gone missing and Gibbs wanted an explanation before HE chose to tear some innocent soul's head off.

Ziva and McGee looked at each other and gulped. Abby was watching curiously from behind her soundproof glass doors, her pigtails made her look like a puppy cocking its head.

Tim cracked first of course. He sighed and said, "Gibbs, I...We were messing with Tony when he was on those painkillers."  
Gibbs smiled a little bit. It _was_ a fun passtime in Gibbs point of view, but the smile vanished quickly. QUICK! Put up the un-funny wall!  
Tim continued.

"We may have taken it a little too far..."

Abby was through the doors and behind Gibbs in a heartbeat. "YOU DIDN'T!" Abby yelled. McGee just stared. Did Abby already know what they were about to tell her? She looked like she wanted to beat McGee with a chemical thermometer. A really, really big chemical thermometer. McGee lost the ability to speak. Abby could totally beat Gibbs when she wanted to.

Ziva gave McGee a withering look and explained the rest for him. Telling Gibbs and Abby exactly what Tony had said in his semi-drunken stupor. Gibbs looked almost indifferent, like this was obvious. Abby on the other hand. The dangerous, clawed hand, looked like she was going to blow up her lab. McGee slowly shrank back behind the mossad officer as she talked. "And then he told us about his mother...which, unless you do not already understand her situation I would not wish to speak of it to you without Tony's permission."

"OH! I get it Ziva, I guess you don't wanna invade his privacy, now do you?" Abby shouted.

"Abby, I-"

"I?" Abby pushed passed their boss and Gibbs let her. He knew that what she was about to say was going to be soooo much better than whatever he could think to throw in his agents' faces. "You mean _**WE**_, David. It would be bad enough with _**YOU**_, but _YOU TOO_ McGee! I thought you were the responsible, smart one? You're always rubbing that in Tony's face anyway! He's much, _MUCH _smarter than you think Mister- and lemme tell you- He knows what you two think of him constantly. He may not remember that conversation he had with you, but I'm pretty sure he knows somethings going on now! He knows he told you _something_! You may think he has the mental capacity of a 3 year old, but even a fuckin' 3 year old can play 'Connect the Dots'!" Abby was seething.

If Ziva hadn't known better she could swear she saw steam flowing from the goth girls ears in a rage.  
Abby turned and stormed off, leaving two stunned agents and proud boss behind. A full minute passed by in silence. Ziva and McGee continued to stare out the door that Abby had left from. Suddenly Abby stomped back in in the same way she'd gone out and pointed at the door. "This is MY lab! OUT!"

As Ziva and McGee left the lab they knew this was going to need much more than just a tweaking. This problem needed help, major help. And they needed to be the ones to fix what they broke.


	5. FAMILY

**OKAY! Last chapter guys. xD Hope you guys love it!~ I tried really hard to think of a good 'I'm sorrys so don't hurt me please Tony!' idea so if you don't like don't read it! xD **

**-3**

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Tony had barely talked that entire week after.

He'd figured it out by himself and wasn't happy. His father had called him back like one of Gibbs's naggy ex-wives and wouldn't leave Tony alone until McGee discreetly blocked Mr. DiNozzo's number. Gibbs was giving them probie work. _Great. _But they both figured they deserved it.

Abby wouldn't even look at them without making it seem like she was about to stab them. With a steak prong ...in the eye. And leave no forensic evidence. Ziva and McGee were making a superhuman attempt to get Tony to talk to them. Or even look at them. To at least throw something at them! Tony's silence was more than they could handle and they missed his obnoxious self.  
Every night, Ziva and Tim met at the cafe down the street to work on their plot.

Next Monday Ziva and Tim were already at work, early, asleep at their desks. Gibbs was up in the squad room as Tony walked in. He walked over to his desk, casting a surreptitious glance at his sleeping co-workers and debated doing something completely terrible to them, but decided it was a waste of time.

He was going to take the old job offer of Rota that Vance had reminded him about last week. He sighed. He'd liked NCIS. No. He'd _loved_ it. He'd worked at NCIS the longest he'd worked anywhere! Normally he wouldn't mind Ziva and McGee looking through his things, but they'd stepped over a huge boundary. He flopped down in his chair and sighed.

Blinking in surprise, Tony noticed a large package on his desk. It wasn't neatly wrapped at all. In fact it look like someone's dog had chewed it up and spat it back out, but it was still a package and the messy bow on top of it showed it was a gift.  
A gift that someone had obviously been angry at and decided to run over with a car...Repeatedly.

Tony sat up and looked at the tag.  
**TO: TONY**  
**FROM: PROBIE AND ZIVA**

Tony gasped in surprise.

Tim had called himself the _Probie_! He'd have to take a picture. Grinning a little bit Tony quietly picked up the package and walked past his fellow employee's desks, headed for the stairs in the far corner of the room. They led to the roof of the building. As he walked up the stairs, Tony seriously considered violently destroying the gift...It could be a prank or something, but Tony was pretty sure it was an _'I'm sorry' _gift...After all, the two of them had been up his ass the last week trying to force him into conversation.

He pushed open the door to the top of the building and was instantly met with a strong breeze. Tony smiled. He'd always loved heights.  
Sitting down on a chair he kept up there for lunch breaks, Tony tore the wrapping off slowly, keeping the bow and sticking it onto his shirt. He froze, wrapper still in hand and stared. No one had ever, _**EVER**_ done something like this for him before. No one had taken the time to...The effort. It was amazing...

The book in front of him was large. About the size of his lap and bound together and the binding with regular rope. The rope had beads, 3 Navy Blue and White beads on them each. The book itself was Leather and thick, navy blue, but flexible. In big bold letters at the top it spelled out **'NCIS'**. At the bottom it had the words **'Family Album' **and Tony's name engraved in smaller letters on the bottom right corner.  
A photograph occupied the middle.

Tony with Ziva, McProbie, Gibbs, Abby and the autopsy gremlin with his teacher...All standing with him. That was the picture itself that Tony _remembered_ anyway. But Kate, Jenny and Paula were all in the picture too... Photo shopped perfectly with the rest of the crowd. McGee's work, no doubt. It had to have taken hours...Maybe _days,_ to get that done, Tony realized.

Tears pricked his eyes as he slowly ran a finger over the picture.

He'd always wanted a photo album, but there was never anything important enough to go in one. He'd never had any pictures of his mother. His father wasn't worth remembering and there had been no _family_ to take a picture of.

He opened the album carefully and looked at the next picture. Him and McGee, him and Ziva, he and Kate all together in pictures that he remembered. Pictures that occupied Abby's walls and pictures that he remembered taking of his friends at crime scenes. Gibbs and him when Gibbs was at the hospital and Kate with him when he was infected with the plague. He was crying now.

There were photos of Tony with waay too much pizza in his mouth and photographs of him sleeping at his desk and at the movies with them all. Pictures that he'd never known were taken were in that book. The pages appeared to be old and worn, but he knew they were like that for detail. They felt like parchment. That kind of paper was expensive. There was he and Palmer in autopsy smiling and drinking some scotch and pictures of him and Gibbs in Gibbs basement 'fixing' his boat. Tony with his sig out and posing with stuffed bears, throwing spit balls at Kate and both Kate and Paula punching him. Paula and he at the office laughing together...There were head-slaps a plenty in there that Tony couldn't help, but chuckle about.

It was official. They were forgiven. By the time Tony got to the last page he was thoroughly sold. He already knew they were sorry. _OBVIOUSLY._

He completely stopped for the second time. The last 3 pages were filled entirely with signatures and messages written to him.

_Dear Tony,_  
_I'm so sorry for what we did. It was never supposed to happen like that, but I guess we just finally figured out that we don't know much about you after all the years we've worked together...Maybe if you give Ziva and I a second chance then we could do that the right way. I have a shelf filled with movies in my apartment that I haven't watched yet? I know I don't deserve you to just turn around accept my apology, but I'm ready for that. You've always been there for me. When I shot that cop and with my fear of heights...Which-still hasn't really gone away, but the You Tube video kinda helped me grow a backbone. You're my friend and you're like an older brother to me...No matter what your father says I consider you as a part of my family...So that means I must be part of yours then, right?_  
_I hope you can forgive me...I know you have every other time, but I'm afraid that I might have crossed a big line and I can't blame you if you decide to hold a grudge, but you're still family to me. You always will be._  
_Sincerely~_  
_Probie._  
_(P.S. I secretly like the nickname.)._

He'd called himself the 'Probie'. Tony grinned an evil, evil grin.

The next page was a sketch of him, drawn by Kate Todd. That had to count as her letter Tony guessed. He smiled, tears were falling down his face so he had to pull the book away a bit to read it without destroying the pictures. Tony's eyes widened as he realized it was the _actual _sketch. Not a copy. There was only one edge of the paper that wasn't tucked into the page itself. Tony pulled it back. It read: _To my partner Tony._

Tony chuckled. _Subtle Kate_, he thought.

Ziva wrote:

_Tony,_  
_I do not know what to say other than I am sorry. I did not want you to be hurt by what I did. I only wished to help, but that misfired._

Tony laughed at her horrible attempt at American idioms.

_I hope you do not stay angry with me for too long. You are my partner and we are a team. I wish for you to forgive me for being a donkey._

_Ziva_

Again Tony chuckled lightly. Ziva was always so... awkward, but her attempts to be straightforward and grammatically correct were herculean. He'd have to help her out more with that...

He froze in shock and stared at the next page. There was a note that Paula had given him. Tony blinked. He'd crumpled it up and thrown that letter out after Jeanne had left him, but he'd run back for it only to find that the trash had been taken out. The only one person who could have found the letter before it went out was Palmer. Palmer would have known that Tony would want it back one day. Tony had regretted throwing the crumpled piece of paper in the trash and was more than pleased to see it taped onto a page.

_Tell her you love her._  
_~Love, Paula._

That was it. The only letter Paula had ever given him, that letter had caused him so much happiness and pain it was almost painful to look at. It made him sad, but happy at the same time...Tony grinned.

There were more from various members of the team. Gibbs telling him he was like a son to him made Tony cry even more and there were invites to play Gibbs' daughter's piano that made Tony's eyes widen in surprise. That wasn't an offer Gibbs handed out lightly. He wanted to hear Tony play. He promised himself he'd grant his boss's wish.

Palmer's was longer than the rest. He and Palmer had been close when Tony had been leading the team. Ziva and McGee had given him a hard time, but Palmer had always been his friend during that time and had actually told the two of them off a couple times. Tony smiled at the memories Palmer was sharing with him. He was surprised Jimmy would think of them like that, but he loved it.

Ducky's letter was mainly filled with stories, but was great to read and there were little snippets about Tony in there that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Abby's was eccentric and he could almost picture her yelling the words on the page in excitement. Recalling all the times they'd shared together even before Kate had joined the team. Her memory was pretty damn impressive, Tony noted happily. There were pictures to go along with the notes that showed scenes of him with the addressee. He trailed his hand over the pages.

Finally he snapped the book closed and stood up. It was light out.

Damn! Checking his watch, Tony saw the time and pelted for the stairs. _So much for Rota,_ he thought. Gibbs was gonna be pissed, but Tony strode back into the bullpen with a smile on his face. Gibbs said nothing, pretending not to notice Tony's presence while Ziva and Tim looked at him hopefully. Without a word, Tony nodded, still grinning from ear to ear, clutching the book to his chest like an excited child, eyes puffy. They smiled gratefully back.

THE END! xD

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**THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS! xD Hope you enjoyed it~! Don't think that just 'cause this is the last chapter the author doesn't expect reviews! I _will_ chase you down. O:**


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